Swinging mechanism for the disintegrating head of a continuous miner



June 19, 1956 J. D. RUSSELL SWINGING MECHANISM FOR THE DISINTEGRATING HEAD OF A CONTINUOUS MINER Original Filed Jan. 20, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet l 12201922202: Jizzz & Weasel].

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June 19, 1956 J. D. RUSSELL 2,751,208 SWINGING MECHANISM FOR THE DISINTEGRATING HEAD OF A CONTINUOUS MINER Original Filed Jan. 20, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 SWINGING MECHANISM FOR THE DISINTEGRAT- IN G HEAD OF A CONTINUOUS MINER John D. Russell, Franklin, Pa., assignor to Joy Manufacturing Company,

a corporation of Pennsylvania 6 Claims. (Cl. 262-29) This invention relates to mining apparatus and more particularly to a swinging mechanism for the vein-attacking and disintegrating mechanism of a continuous mining apparatus.

In a continuous miner of a known type a mobile base carries a vertically swingable vein-attacking and disintegrating mechanism which extends forwardly in advance of the base, and this attacking and disintegrating mechanism may be sumped forwardly into the mineral of a mine vein either at the roof or at the floor and then swung arcuately in a vertical plane between the floor and roof to effect dislodgment of the mineral from the solid vein. Due to the space restrictions in an underground mine, the continuous miner must be relatively vertically compact and the swinging mechanism for the attacking and disintegrating mechanism must be simple and rugged in design while being capable of imparting a powerful swinging force to the attacking and disintegrating mechanism thereby to effect tearing of the mineral in relatively large fragments from the mine face. The present invention contemplates improvements over such known type of continuous miner in that an improved swinging mechanism is provided for the attacking and disintegrating mechanism for imparting a powerful swinging force to the latter during the dislodging operation while obtaining the desired compactness and simplicity and ruggedness in design.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved continuous mining apparatus having an improved vein-attacking and disintegrating mechanism. Another object is to provide an improved swinging mechanism for the attacking and disintegrating mechanism of a continuous miner. Yet another object is to provide an improved swinging mechanism which is relatively simple and rugged in design, whereby a powerful swinging force may be imparted to the attacking and disintegrating mechanism thereby efiiciently to dislodge the mineral from a solid mine vein. A further object is to provide an improved swinging mechanism for the swingable disintegrating or digging head of a continuous miner wherein the swinging mechanism is arranged in an extremely compact manner with respect to the swingable disintegrating head. These and other objects and advantages of the invention will, however, hereinafter more fully appear.

This application is a division of my copending application Serial No. 139,631, filed January 20, 1950, now abandoned, which has been replaced by a continuation application Serial No. 524,791, filed July 27, 1955.

In the accompanying drawings there is shown for purposes of illustration one form which the invention may assume in practice.

In these drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan iew and Fig. 2 is a side view of the forward portion of a continuous miner in which a preferred illustrative embodiment of the invention is incorporated.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged longitudinal vertical sectional a solid vein.

, 2,751,208 Patented June 19, 1956 view taken on the plane of line 3--3 of Fig. 1, with parts shown in full, and illustrating the improved swinging mechanism.

Fig. 3A is a detail section Fig. 3.

Figs. 4 and 5 are views similar to Fig. 2, showing the miner in operating position in a mine, with the attacking and disintegrating mechanism in different operating positions.

The continuous mining apparatus of the present invention is generally designated 1 and constitutes an improvement over that shown in my copending application, Serial No. 102,995, filed July 5, 1949, in that the swinging mechanism for the vein-attacking and disintegrating mechanism or swingable digging head 2 is made more compact in order to provide a space beneath the attacking and disintegrating mechanism for receiving a floor clean-up mechanism 3. While the swinging mechanism of the present invention is shown associated with an attacking and disintegrating mechanism which swings upwardly in a vertical plane during its operation, it will be evident that the same may be applied to an attacking and disintegrating mechanism which may swing downwardly during its operation, as is disclosed in my copending application Serial No. 139,631 above referred to.

The continuous miner as disclosed herein generally comprises a mobile base 4 having a frame 5 which has swiveled thereon to turn about a vertical axis of a tumtable 6. The turntable has a horizontal frame portion 7 projecting forwardly in advance of the base and guided on this frame portion for horizontal movement rectilinearly thereon, in a radial direction with respect to the turntable axis, is a sliding frame or support 8 on which a swingable frame or bar structure 9 of the attacking and disintegrating mechanism 2 is pivotally mounted, at 10, to swing in a vertical plane with respect to the sliding frame 8, and to swing horizontally with the turntable relative to the base.

The vertically swingable frame or bar structure 9 of the attacking and disintegrating mechanism 2 has guided thereon for orbital movement several parallel, vertically disposed endless disintegrating chains 11 each of which is equipped with disintegrating elements 12, and these disintegrating chains effect dislodgment and disintegration of the mineral in relatively wide vertical segments from The disintegrated mineral torn from the face of the mine vein is conveyed rearwardly from the face by the top runs of the disintegrating chains and is discharged onto a conveyor mechanism 13 carried by the sliding frame 8 and in turn discharging the disintegrated mineral into a hopper 14 carried by the base 4 in coaxial relation with the turntable pivot. A rear delivery conveyor 15 on the base receives the disintegrated mineral discharged into the hopper 14 and conveys the disintegrated mineral rearwardly of the base to a suitable point of delivery. The forward portion of the conveyor 15 extends forwardly and downwardly beneath the attacking and disintegrating mechanism 2 into a position wherein it receives the loose material gathered from the mine floor by the floor clean-up mechanism 3. Motors 16 mounted on the turntable at opposite sides of the apparatus are connected through self-adjusting connections 17 with the driving mechanism for the disintegrating chains 11, as is also fully diclosed in the copending applications above referred to. Evidently, as previously mentioned, the swinging mechanism of the present invention may be associated with other types of mining apparatus and may be employed to effect swinging of attacking and disintegrating mechanisms of other types.

The vein-attacking and disintegrating mechanism 2 taken on line 3A--3A of improved, extremely compact swinging mechanism of v In 'is horiiont al.

the hydraulic cylinder and piston operated type. This mechanism includes a pair of single-actinghydraulic cylinders 20 having bores 21 and arranged with their up i h wh he tt kin nd d s nte atin T e 'e li d i e 2 ete s v li' secnrdhs at '22 to' the opposite sides of the'rearward portion of the frame or har structure 9 of the attacking and"disintegratingmechanism 2: Also secured to the opposite sides of the frame structure 9, in advance of the cylinders 20, are downwardly extending brackets 23 carrying pivots 24 for rearwardly extending lever eleinents or reaction members 25, disposed at the lower side of the frame structure 9 and extending longitudinally beneath the cylinders 20 These lever elementscarry intermediate their ends brackets 26 pivotally'connected by'transverse pivot pins'27 to the lower end of piston rods or connecting links 28, which are in turn pivotally connected at their upper ends, at 29;, to suitably packed pistbns 3h reciprocable in the cylinder-bores 21. Secured by screws to the bottoms of the cylinders are side members 3Q" which' serve as stops for thepistons to liniit the downward travel of the latter within the cylinders. The rearward ends of thelevers 25 have angularly disposed shortupright arms 31 pivotally connected at 32 to flexible supporting links in the form of sections of pivoted link chain 33, which are secure'd at' their other ends at points above'the rear ends of said lever elements, as at 34, pineap e: surface of the'curved front ends'35' of 'side frameportions 3650f the sliding frame 8, and which are, as it were, draped loosely over the curved frame surfaces in supported contact with the latter, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. i

The upright cylinders 20 have fluid supply and discharge connections 37 and 38 to which fluid may be supplied and from which fluid may be exhausted in the manner fully disclosed in the copending application Serial No. 139,631 above referred to. Whenpressure fluid, such as liquid under pressure, is supplied to the upper ends of the bores of the cylinders 20, the pistons 30 are forced downwardly and outwardly in the cylinders, andthischang'es the angle of the levers 25 to the frame structure 9 of the attacking and disintegratingmechanism, and since the points 32 cannot move" downward, being sustained by thechains 33, of necessitythe pivots24 must'inove' upwardly, and, accordingly, upswing of the disintegratingmechanism '2 is accomplished by the admission of pressure fluid to'the bores 21 of the cylinders 20. "'Actually, what occurs is not a downward movement of the "pistons 3h,but an upward movement of thecylinders zll 'and'pistons 30 with the cylinders rising more rapidly'than'the pistons, and with the pistons' 30 higher in the raised position of the attacking and disintegrating mechanism than in the lower position thereof. 'Itwill be appreciated that thisswinging mechanism is simple and rugged in design, is very compact vertically, provides a considerable amount of space beneath the attacking and disintegrating 'mechani'sm' in which the'floor clean-up mechanism 3 may be arranged, and thus is well suited to use in a continuous miner with a'floor clean-up mechanism of the character disclosed in the parent application mentioned above.

In Fig. 5, the vein-attacking and disintegrating mechanism 2 is shown in its forward sumped position at the floor level with its outer portion within the mineral of a mine vein and in such position the cylinders 20 are in their lowered position with the pistons 30 near the upper ends of the cylinder bores and with the levers 25 close to the bottoms of the cylinders and frame structure 9; in themanner shown. In Fig. 4 the attacking and disintegrating mechanism is shown in its raised position at the roof level near the completion of its disintegrating operation and in such position that the cylinders 20 are elevated, with the pistons 30 at the lower ends ofitheir bores, andwith heaven 25 et 'e e a e e l ede a, t ei efiafdewnw t y. nd e wet v n Ta. r alise 1 at e substantial angle with respect to the frame structure 9 of the attacking and disintegrating mechanism, as shown. When the levers 25 are in their outwardly and forwardly swung position, as shown in Fig. 4, the chains 33 extend forwardly along a straight line for a major portion of their lengths, and with the pivot pins 32 located downw rdly a substant a d s ance lelew the r me tru mre arid t wardl with e n 'rte h l me Pert ens As previously mentioned, instead of having an attackns a nt rat n me han sm 2 sump a e ne and swing upwardly to efiect dislodgement of the mineral of e n v n t a u a the eef ea swin s o nwardly, andrduring snch,pperation the disintegrated mineral drops by gravity to the floor and is gathered and loaded onto the conveyor 15 by the floor clean-up mechanism 3. Of course, when the attacking and disintegrating mechanism is operated in a downward direction the drive by th e e 6v u t be re e ed, sad the sint ra elemen 1 reve s d 9, 111 dis n rat eheie '1) and th e l ader en peteie'te are the at ack n n disintegrating mechanism'to the roof and to alldw same to move downwardly, under the influence of gravity, s ee dieinte e ee of e min ral.-

As aresult r this invention'an improved continuous mining apparatus is provided having improved swinging me a m. fer t eii t e e and d sin ra in mechanis whereb simplicity andruggedness in design and itr'eme e e' e maeeme e i e t in d- Y t provision of the ext'ernely compact swinging mechanism it been made'possible to locate the floor clean-up mechanism in advance of the base beneath the attacking anddisintcgrating mechanism inj the space thus provided. The improved swinging mechanism, due to its particular manner at association'withithe attacking and disintegrat ing "mechanimmay impart a powerful swinging 'force to the attacking and disintegrating mechanism to swing the latter in a vertical plane," thereby to dislodge the inineraliroin a solid rnine vein in an extremely efiicient and rapid manner. These and other advantages of the invention will be clearly apparent to those skilled in the art. i

"While there is in this application specifically described one form 'hich the invention'may assume in practice, it warns understood that this forin of the same is shown for purposes of illustration and that the invention may be modifiedend embodied in various other forms without departing from its spirit or the scope of the appended claims;

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters lfatcnt isi lfln an apparatus of the character disclosed, the combination comprising 'a support, a disintegrating mechanism'fo'r dislodging mineral from a solidimine vein and pivotally mounted on'said support to swing in vertical planes, and power operated means-for swinging said disintegrating mechanism about itspivot comprising a lever pivotally connected at one endto 'a portion of said-mechanism, said lev'er swinging downwardly about its pivotal connection with said disintegrating mechanism relative to the latter as said mechanism swings upwardly, a flexible link element at its upper portion engaging said support at a point above the opposite end of said lever and depending from said support, said link element having its lower portion connected to said opposite end of said lever, means rm said support for'causing flexing of said link element as said mechanism swings as aforesaid to provide for bodily rndvement of saidlei er with said mechanism relative to said'support, andan extensible power device mounted on said'disintegrating mechanism to swing in vertical planes therewith and pivotally connected at its lower end to said lever at a point spaced longitudinally from the ends of said lever, saidlever extending longitudinally beneath said power device.

2; In an apparatus of the character disclosed, the come ee e a in a. name haves, e te a surface, a disintegrating mechanism for dislodging mineral from a solid mine vein and pivotally mounted on said support to swing in vertical planes, and power operated means for swinging said disintegrating mechanism about its pivot comprising a lever pivotally connected at one end to said mechanism, a free flexing element at its upper portion engaging said support at a point above the opposite end of said lever and having its lower portion connected to said opposite end of said lever, said free flexing element at its upper portion lying against said curved support surface in one position of said disintegrating mechanism and gradually moving at its lower portion away from said curved surface as said mechanism is swung in one direction to provide for bodily movement of said lever with said mechanism relative to said support, and an extensible power device mounted on said disintegrating mechanism to swing in vertical planes therewith and pivotally connected to said lever at a point spaced longitudinally from the ends of said lever.

3. In a continuous mining apparatus, the combination comprising a support, a disintegrating mechanism for dislodging coal or other mineral from a solid seam or vein and pivotally mounted on said support to swing in a vertical direction with respect thereto, and power operated means for swinging said disintegrating mechanism about its pivot including a lever extending longitudinally beneath said mechanism, link means for flexibly pivotally connecting one end of said lever to said support at a point above said latter end of said lever, means for pivotally connecting the opposite end of said lever to said mechanism, said connecting link means for said one end of said lever having flexing and pivotal motions relative to said support, a fluid cylinder mounted on said mechanism above said lever to swing in a vertical direction with said mechanism, and a piston contained in said cylinder and having its piston rod pivotally connected to said lever at a point spaced longitudinally of said lever from said ends thereof, said lever swinging about its pivotal connection with said mechanism during swinging of the latter and concurrently moving bodily relative to said support, and said flexible connecting link means providing for such bodily movement of said lever.

4. In a continuous mining apparatus, the combination comprising a support, a disintegrating mechanism for dislodging coal or other mineral from a solid seam or vein and pivotally mounted on said support to swing in a vertical direction with respect thereto, and power oper ated means for swinging said disintegrating mechanism about its pivot including a lever, a chain section providing a flexible link connected at its upper end to and guided by said support, said support providing guiding means for said flexible link whereby the latter may flex, said link suspended from said support and connected at its lower end to one end of said lever and the point of engagement of said chain-link with said support being located above its point of connection with said one end of said lever, said lever at its opposite end being pivotally connected to a portion of said mechanism, said chainlink having flexing and pivotal motions relative to said support, a fluid cylinder mounted on said mechanism above said lever to swing in a vertical direction with said mechanism, and a piston contained in said cylinder and having its piston rod pivotally connected at its lower end to said lever intermediate the ends of the latter, said lever swinging about its pivotal connection with said mechanism during swinging of the latter and concurrently moving bodily relative to said support as said mechanism swings, the flexing of said flexible chain-link relative to said guiding means providing for such bodily movement of said lever.

5. In an apparatus of the character disclosed, a combination comprising a support element, a swingable disintegrating head element pivotally mounted on said support element to swing in vertical planes with respect thereto, and power operated mechanism for swinging said head element in vertical planes about its pivot comprising an elongated lever swingable in vertical planes, means for pivotally connecting one end of said lever to one of said elements, a flexible link pivotally connected at one end to said other element and at its other end to the other end of said lever, said other element having a curved surface against which the upper portion of said flexible link lies in one position of said disintegrating head, said flexible link gradually moving away from said curved surface to provide for bodily movement of said lever as said disintegrating head is swung in one direction, and an extensible power device comprising relatively reciprocable power actuated members, means for mounting one of said relatively reciprocable members of said power device on said one of said elements and means for pivotally connecting said other member of said power device to said lever intermediate the ends if the latter, said lever having movement relative to said other element during swinging of said head element and said flexible link providing for such relative movement of said lever.

6. In an apparatus of the character disclosed, the combination comprising a support, a disintegrating mechanism for dislodging mineral from a solid mine vein and pivotally mounted on said support to swing in vertical planes, and power operated means for swinging said disintegrating mechanism about its pivot comprising a lever pivotally connected at one end to said mechanism and extending generally longitudinally of the latter, said lever swinging downwardly about its pivotal connection with said disintegrating mechanism relative to the latter as said mechanism swings upwardly about its pivot, a flexible link element at its upper portion engaging said support at a point above the opposite end of said lever and having its lower end connected to said opposite end of said lever, means for causing said link element to flex as said mechanism swings about its pivot to provide for bodily movement of said lever with said mechanism relative to said support, and an extensible power .device mounted on said disintegrating mechanism above said lever to swing in vertical planes with said mechanism and connected to said lever, said extensible power device comprising a fluid cylinder mounted on said disintegrating mechanism and containing a reciprocable piston having pivotal connection with said lever.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,588,564 Wilson June 15, 1926 2,062,658 Holmes Dec. 1, 1936 2,062,660 Holmes Dec. 1, 1936 2,078,636 Kucher Apr. 27, 1937 2,269,781 Osgood Jan. 13, 1942 2,285,861 Iefirey et a1. June 9, 1942 2,287,230 Cartlidge June 23, 1942 2,404,760 Washbond July 23, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTS 316,292 Germany Nov. 24, 1919 

